At Libertyville, They`ve Got It All Together

No. 8 Wildcats Have Skill, Size And A Strong Sense Of Unity

Teri Rodgers has seen it before and insists she won`t let it happen again.

The 5-foot-6-inch standout senior guard at Libertyville thinks the only sure-fire way to win is when the team not only plays together on the court but also hangs around together off the court.

Rodgers said personality conflicts are all too common at the high-school level of girls` basketball, and she`s determined to prevent that from happening to the Wildcats.

``I`ve been on teams like that before, where some players don`t like the others,`` said Rodgers. ``Females--we can be that way sometimes. We`ve been real fortunate, though. We`re all good friends and haven`t had a single problem at all.``

Led by Rodgers` per-game averages of 15 points and 7 assists, the Wildcats have posted a 21-2 record and reside in first-place at 15-1 in their defense of the North Suburban Conference crown.

Libertyville is ranked No. 8 in the latest Tribune Prep Poll, but coach Tom Murphy insists that his team is not at all interested in polls.

``I don`t think that`s our purpose in high school, to produce a set of rankings,`` said Murphy, who admitted that he does indeed cast his ballot every week.

``I think we`re here to teach kids how to compete. To rank teams is so arbitrary. I`m sure I`m in the minority on this whole thing, but now they even have nationally ranked high school ratings. It seems to be a little misguided.``

Murphy`s teams have won 20 games or more games in each of the last eight seasons, and the current squad is looking to go Downstate for the third time in five years.

Two years ago, the Wildcats lost in the quarterfinals to Wheaton Central in a game Rodgers ranks as the ``proudest moment`` of her life. She and her two other senior teammates from the 1984-85 squad, Megan Cheesborough and Cindy Geib, are all anxious to avenge that defeat.

``We we`re all excited and just happy to get down there,`` Rodgers recalled. ``But this year, we want to get down and win it. We`ve come so far and really worked hard from the beginning of the year to overcome our weaknesses--rebounding and overall team play.``

Besides Rodgers` ballhandling talents, the Wildcats rely on Geib, a 5-10 forward, Cheesborough, a 5-10 guard, and 5-11 center Alissa Oakley to give the team a height advantage that`s difficult to defense.

``That`s our biggest advantage, the fact that we have tall people,`` said Murphy. ``Teri`s only 5-6, but mostly other teams have maybe one center that`s as big as 5-10, so if they play man-to-man we can rotate someone into the middle. And Teri controls the tempo of the game.

``I`m astounded when I hear that other players are better athletes. It doesn`t matter that people can jump higher. We`ve yet to play a team whose defense can make us play the way they want us to. They try to put two people on her, but if they double-team her she responds with sharp passes for layups. And our defense is holding most opponents to under 40 points a game.``

Rodgers credits Murphy`s low-key approach to the game for keeping the girls close-knit and on the winning track.

``Coach can tell if we`re practicing and not getting into it,`` she said. ``If we`re not interested some days, he`ll just send us home. He won`t work us so hard that we`ll all get totally sick of basketball. We practice two hours at the most. He tells us it`s not the quantity, but the quality.``

Murphy`s team will need some of those ``quality`` practices as it heads into the IHSA tournament next week. The coach doesn`t appear to be too worried, however.

``The experience factor on this team is incredible,`` said Murphy. ``They seem to play to the competition, to the big games. They look forward to beating teams that should be better than they are.``